Google, Inc. has formed a new venture capital fund that seeks to discover and grow innovative companies.
Google Ventures will look at a wide variety of start-up companies in which to invest, including consumer Internet products, information technology, healthcare and biotech.
Rich Miner, a co-founder of Android, a mobile platforms company acquired by Google in 2005, and Bill Maris, who founded Web hosting pioneer Burlee.com, are the fund's two managing partners.
"This is Google's effort to take advantage of our resources to support innovation and encourage promising new technology companies," said Miner and Maris on the Google Blog
"Economically, times are tough, but great ideas come when they will. If anything, we think the current downturn is an ideal time to invest in nascent companies that have the chance to be the 'next big thing,' and we'll be working hard to find them," they said.
In related news, Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, a healthcare venture capital firm based in Palo Alto, Calif., has raised $900 million for its latest fund, Fund VIII.
EWHV officials say they will primarily make growth equity investments in companies with a rapidly expanding revenue base and venture investments in companies with breakthrough technologies.
"Healthcare remains a highly attractive market for investing and the opportunities created by the market changes underway together with the rapidly growing need for capital make the timing of this fund particularly important," said Marty Sutter, a founder and managing director at EWHV.
"This latest fund and the extraordinary team of professionals behind it allow us to be a strong partner to high growth companies whose capital requirements will allow them to assume leadership positions in their field and to venture companies which need to validate and monetize their new technologies," Sutter said.
